1:45 PM: The Winnipeg Jets have confirmed the one-for-one swap.
11:00 AM: The Pittsburgh Penguins may have found their solution to who will play on a line with Sidney Crosby. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting the organization is close to acquiring forward prospect Rutger McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets. A few moments later, Friedman additionally reported the Penguins would be sending prospect Brayden Yager back to Winnipeg.
McGroarty immediately becomes the best forward prospect in the Penguins organization with Yager’s exit and has a legitimate opportunity to crack the roster next season. Although nothing was purposefully made public, McGroarty reportedly sought a trade out of Winnipeg in late June for a more readily available opportunity at the NHL level.
Shortly after being acquired by the organization, the Penguins signed McGroarty to his entry-level contract meaning his time at the University of Michigan has concluded. The three-year deal will pay McGroarty a salary of $855K at the NHL level with a signing bonus of $50K and performance ’A’ bonuses up to $500K each year of the deal.
It’s difficult to argue with McGroarty on being NHL-ready as he recently finished ninth in NCAA scoring during the 2023-24 season with 16 goals and 52 points in 36 games. He was also sensational during the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships for Team USA as he scored five goals and nine points in seven tournament contests while captaining his team to a gold medal finish for the first time since 2021.
If the Penguins graduate McGroarty to the NHL for the 2024-25 campaign, he fills an obvious need on Crosby’s wing. Playing primarily against Big Ten opponents during his time in the NCAA, McGroarty developed an innate skill to read opposing defenses and show off his elite playmaking abilities in the offensive zone. He’s not satisfied without the puck either, as he is a relentless forechecker with a combination of skill and physical play.
His forechecking abilities make him an ideal candidate to put on a line with Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, as both players thrive with the puck on their sticks. McGroarty’s style of play should open up plenty of space for the two Pittsburgh legends but he also has a good enough shot to finish the play himself.
Yager was selected exactly one year after McGroarty with the 14th overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft. He spent last season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors collecting 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games as the team’s assistant captain. He further cemented his legacy with the Moose Jaw program with an incredible playoff performance with 11 goals and 27 points in 20 games en route to becoming champions of the WHL.
Yager also had the opportunity to represent Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships and scored five points in five games for the Canadians but unfortunately failed to medal. It appeared as if Yager may have an outside chance of making Pittsburgh’s roster for the 2024-25 campaign with the team signing him to his entry-level contract only a month ago. Now, Yager will attempt to crack Winnipeg’s roster in training camp.
The young Saskatoon native has inherent value as a right-handed shot center who also brings more defensive awareness to his game in comparison to McGroarty. If the organization is not content with giving Cole Perfetti minutes down the middle of the ice on the team’s second line, Yager provides a confident long-term answer at center behind Mark Scheifele.
Pens need a guy who can play now and get a guy who thinks he can play now. Let’s see if it pays off for them.
Like to see trades like this. Everyone goes away happy.
How do you know Yager is happy about this?
He should be- he’s got a chance to make an NHL team. Unless he was moved to the wing it would be equally challenging to make the penguins in 2024-25 out of camp.
Arguably closer to home. He wasn’t going to start in the NHL(Pitt) this year. Pens giving up ceiling for floor might prove costly, but I think both players will do well with their new organization.
Where is his home?
I was inferring that Winnipeg is closer to Saskatchewan than Pennsylvania.
He lives in Saskatchewan?
Me and Yager talked just after the trade and he was stoked!
If McGroarty decides to really go back to college and they need a guy right now, The Hawks should make an offer for his services. If they want a cheap guy who can keep up with Crosby maybe Reichel, Kurashev, plus a pick gets it done? The Hawks can afford to be patient, The Pens are running out of time for their window. McGroarty reunited with Nazar might be fun. Maybe Hall with 3 million retained?Do the Pens have that kind of cap room?
He already signed
Where do you see that? Besides, Even if he signed his ELC he can still go back to Michigan. That doesn’t mean anything.
That’s not correct. If he signs (after he signed) the ELC he loses his NCAA eligibility.
“Shortly after being acquired by the organization, the Penguins signed McGroarty to his entry-level contract meaning his time at the University of Michigan has concluded”
maybe you should try THINKING sometime, unclemike
To Be fair I think that was added after
It was in the 2nd article. Thanks Tang
Woah. That’s out of nowhere
Good 2 way centre……good job Chevy
A few thoughts…
A) Dubas is fast becoming the Jerry DiPoto of the NHL. Constant action this summer. Very ADHD.
B) I wonder if part of the delay in Sid’s contract was holding out for better (no offense to DOC) linemates. We’ll see.
C) Not often fond of guys who Lindros a situation.
D) I’ve seen Yager play a few times and really liked him. Never seen McGroarty. What is he? Best comp?
Given his size, physicality, and skill level I think the best current comparison is Robert Thomas of the Blues. Remains to be seen if McGroarty will live up to that comp.
If I’m not mistaken It wasn’t Quebec City that was Eric Lindros problem but the guy running the team. He told them he would never play their as long as he ran the team. The guys name escapes me but I’m sure you could find info about it online. I believe it was a PDF File, SA type of situation where this guy over stepped his bounds with very young men
Or maybe Sid now just demands to play with LW’s from Nebraska and this was the only other one.
Chevy turning lemons into lemonade again… GENIOUS!!!
Exactly what has Yager accomplished?
Believe they are suggesting that they turned a bad situation into a good one, because McGroarty requested a trade and they got a player in return that fits their needs/timeline better.
I know McGroarty was born in Nebraska, but didn’t he grow up near Pittsburgh?
Yager is from the Canadian Great Plains; he might be happy to be going to WPG. I like his talent over McGroarty, but it could be a nice trade for both sides.
Nice
Now Jets have 3 young players competing for 2C, The 3rd man out can drop to 4C and learn the position. 2nd man out plays wing opposite Ehlers ,,good trade !!
Who wonders whether McGroarty will be Jimmy Vesey 2.0?
I worry that Yager will be the better player long term, but it’s hard to not like that Dubas found a way to improve the team today without actually sacrificing the future.
Well you gave up a really good centreman for a guy with piss and vinegar that can contribute right away. Arguably you don’t need a Sid or Malkin replacement if you’re trying to win now, but the ceiling is far higher for Yager. Hopefully McGroarty can mesh/gel with the top 6.
I’ve seen you say this twice, but every single prospect evaluation I’ve seen has McGroarty’s ceiling higher than Yager. Every analytics breakdown has him also with the higher chance to stick in the NHL and become a star.
Is this just your opinion? Or are you talking out of your butt? lol
While we’re talking about talking out of your butt … they’re both PROSPECTS. My comment about Vesey 2.0 is entirely on point; no one has any idea whether they’re going to be stars or not at this stage.
Just take the last ten years. People thought that Michael Dal Colle was going to be a star. People thought that Jake Virtanen was going to be a star. Olli Juolevi, Alex Nylander, Nolan Patrick, Lias Andersson, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Kaapo Kakko, Alex Turcotte, they were all high first round picks who were supposed to be stars.
I think Kakko deserves another year before falling into this category. Maybe Turcotte as well now that PLD is gone.
I wasn’t talking to you. I don’t care about your Jimmy Vesey comparison because it’s irrelevant and not educated.
The point was about who the better prospect is according to the people in the know, which is clearly McGroarty. How it ends up none of us know, but for now I really like the trade for the Penguins since they got the higher ceiling, more NHL ready player.
“People in the know”.
“Appeal to authority fallacy occurs when we accept a claim merely because someone tells us that an authority figure supports that claim. An authority figure can be a celebrity, a well-known scientist, or any person whose status and prestige causes us to respect them.”
Bloggers in their PJ’s. OK.
Who is talking about bloggers? I’m talking about prospect rankings and NHL GM’s.
Obviously, Dubas thinks McGroarty is the better player, hence why he made this trade. I’ve yet to see someone credible say Yager is a better prospect, and most people have said there is a significant gap between the two (including someone I know who works in scouting in the NHL).
I’ve consistently seen Yager called a scoring, middle six center as his ceiling (likely 3rd line at the end of the day, which lines up with what the Pens think), while McGroarty is consistently called a top six, physical wing with a high floor by everyone who has seen him play. Am I missing something?
@buctober: Y’know, sport, if you want to have a private conversation with someone, get that person’s Discord handle and have at it. Otherwise, the rest of us aren’t your adoring audience. We can comment where and to whom we want, and if that bothers you, no one makes you post here.
@spaced-cowboy: Oh, Kakko isn’t a *bust* in absolute terms: the guy’s a serviceable third-liner with good defensive metrics. Any team picking someone like that up with a third round pick will be happy with it. Second overall, not so much.
It doesn’t bother me, I just called it out. You decided to chime in about Jimmy Vesey and I don’t care in the slightest (it’s a bad take).
I have no idea what Discord is because I have a life. On that note, I have to hit the gym and then I have plans, so enjoy your Discord chats.
Yes. The same thing.
“Appeal to authority fallacy occurs when we accept a claim merely because someone tells us that an authority figure supports that claim. An authority figure can be a celebrity, a well-known scientist, or any person whose status and prestige causes us to respect them.”
“I’ve read. I’ve seen. I’ve heard. They’ve said.”
Experts came to the consensus that Nail Yakupov was the top prospect in 2012. Was Nail Yakupov the top prospect in 2012?
Ray Shero, a Cup winning GM and his NHL scouting staff thought Angelo Esposito was worth a first round pick. 3 minutes into watching his first practice at Southpointe I knew he wasn’t going to be ****.
Two in the same really. My bias is showing.
I’ve been watching Yager play for a few years now and I do believe he is the better player.
66, so how do you judge who is better? I’ve watched both play (albeit on TV) and came away thinking Rutger was better. Yager tends to disappear a lot in games (he isn’t assertive). They’re about the same age, so I’ll take the aggressive, assertive player over the passive one every day of the week. That’s why I was very excited for this trade.
I think Yager’s ceiling is Daniel Sprong that can play Center. That’s not a bad player and I could end up being totally off, but that tends to line up with how the Penguins viewed him (and my buddy in scouting).
You’re basically rationalizing your take by saying that McGroarty could be a bust. Of course that’s true, but that’s on the extreme side of the possibilities and we both know that. You’re appealing to pessimism instead of the likelihood, which is that McGroarty will be a better player with a higher floor.
Spaced-Cowboy, what is your reasoning for that?
I’ve watched both play and think McGroarty is the better player. Yager is very skilled and I like him as a player, but he isn’t as assertive as he needs to be and tends to disappear for entire games (like he did multiple times at Juniors). His Head Coach even made a comment that it would be nice if Yager would play offense in the next game (paraphrasing).
Yager probably has the higher offensive ceiling, but with a higher likelihood to bust. McGroarty is basically a guarantee to be a good NHL player that has versatility and will play a two-way game. He’s also a proven leader that’s been the Captain everywhere he’s played. I’ll take that every time.
It’s about the intangibles for me. Quality of linemates. Second gears in the big games. Both pass the eye test.
There are no guarantees. Let’s get that out of the way.
I have never said McGroarty is a bust but the foot speed is concerning. The way the game is shifting towards skill and speed I don’t see his game aging/developing as well as Yager. His floor is very high and he’s a lead by example guy that any team would covet.
There’s not a lot of bad things to say about McGroarty outside of his selfishness and foot speed. I’d argue he’s well within his right to say no, but most people would just cherish the opportunity to play the game you love.
I don’t think peddling my opinion on Yager will help this discussion so I hope my analysis of McGroarty will suffice.
Cheers
That’s all fair. I agree there are no guarantees.
I just think Yager’s question marks are bigger than McGroarty’s, but I think they’re both quality young players. I tend to normally go for the “grinder” type players because they are more likely to find a way in the NHL, and watching Yager disappear at times in the World Juniors was a little eye opening for me (I was higher on him before that). McGroarty finds ways to positively impact the game even when he isn’t scoring, and he’s a proven leader on high end teams (both internationally and collegiately). I like that.
Hopefully, they both work out and both teams are happy. I’m firmly on the side that this was an excellent trade for the Penguins, so I hope I end up being right.
I will agree that Yager is more boom or bust, simply because the floor is far higher for McGroarty. Two way game can suffer when you have to compete with faster/bigger players. Speed kills. So I like the upside to Yager’s game more. That’s just me.
I wish them both much success and I do believe they’re both in a better spot to succeed. Both franchises should be happy.
This is a very good trade for the Penguins taking advantage of a team with little leverage. They swapped prospects one for one, but got the better prospect with the higher upside. Also, McGroarty is the more NHL ready prospect and will probably be slotted in on the third line to open the season (Yager is still a year or two away).
Good on the Jets for getting a legit prospect back in the deal, and good on the Penguins for giving up no NHL assets or draft picks.